RELEASE THE ENERGY DRAIN OF OVERPROVIDING TENDENCIES Are you trying to take care of everyone in your life as your body continues to fail you? Are you trying to be everything to everyone, because it feels like that’s your purpose? Do you feel overwhelmed? Do you find yourself stressed out trying to figure out how to do everything everyone else wants, but deep down, you know your body may not be able to handle it much longer? Do you skip doing things that help you, because you are too busy helping others? Do you feel unappreciated and misunderstood? Do you find that when you do something for someone else that causes you excruciating pain the other person doesn’t even seem to appreciate it? If you are experiencing these feelings, then you are probably overwhelmed due to overproviding tendencies. Overproviding specifically refers to accepting responsibilities or duties that you know you aren’t able to do, may struggle to do, don’t want to do, your body can’t handle, or keeps you from doing what you truly need to do to get better and live a fulfilling life.
24 • Fibro Living Magazine • www.inspiredlivingwithfibromyalgia.com
Ultimately, you are giving too much of yourself to others, depleting your energy without getting the help you need, and losing the ability to treat yourself properly to be able to live a great life with a chronic illness. Women, in particular are hard wired to believe that we HAVE to do everything we are asked or at least try. Many women want to be needed and see being asked to do something as a badge of honor that must be accepted. One of the biggest reasons people reach the point of severe overproviding to the point of being completely overwhelmed is due to fear. We are afraid of being rejected, of not belonging, of not being loved, of having someone be angry at us, of disappointing others, of not making enough money, of not being good enough. All of these factors are exacerbated by our Fibromyalgia ridden bodies that actually have very real limits at times. Unfortunately, our limits are often difficult for others to understand.